Car coupler with slack release



1956 D. L. HERBERT 3,289,856

CAR COUPLER WITH SLACK RELEASE Filed March 31, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. DONALD L. HERBERT M kw A TTORNE Y 1966 D. L. HERBERT 3,

CAR COUPLER WITH SLACK RELEASE Filed March 31, 1965 :3 Sheets-Sheet 2 mlhm INVENTOR. DONALD L. HERBERT Wbm A TTORNE Y Dec. 6, 1966 D. 1.. HERBERT 3,289,856

CAR COUPLER WITH SLACK RELEASE Filed March 51, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR. DONALD L. HERBERT mm-w A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,289,856 CAR COUPLER WITH SLACK RELEASE Donald L. Herbert, Lexington, Ohio, assignor to,The Ohio Brass Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 31, 1965, Ser. No. 444,132 6 Claims. (Cl. 213-159) This invention relates to car couplers and, more specifically, to coupler apparatus with slack release.

A general object of the invention is to provide apparatus and means for uncoupling train cars by a single operator or trainman.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide coupler means for uncoupling cars which may be cocked while the cars are in coupled relation and operated at a subsequent time.

In certain railway installations, particularly in mines and in mine haulage, it is necessary to uncouple cars and to separate portions of the train for rerouting, loading and unloading, and the like. This presents some difficulty with existing designs of couplers inasmuch as the changes in train makeaup may be required at various places and the use of a trainman whose sole function is to uncouple the cars imposes an excessive operating cost. Accordingly, I have devised an improved car coupler which is arranged for separate unlocking and release functions.

The apparatus of the invention includes an uncoupling mechanism in which a release lever is moved to a cocked position prior to separation of the couplers. The release lever is connected to the coupler cam by a spring so that operation of the lever is possible although the cam is locked against relative movement by reason of engagement with the cooperating coupler. Relief of the locking pressure between the couplers permits the cam to be drawn to its uncoupling position by the spring so that the couplers may separate. The release lever may be cocked by a train man who is free to operate the locomotive for moving the train or individual cars to a desired location.

The apparatus described herein embodies a general method of uncoupling cars, which may be variously embodied in other useful devices and arrangements.

The invention, together with further objects, features, and advantages thereof, will be understood by reference to the following detailed specification and claims, taken in connection with the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a coupler constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the coupler of FIG. 1, taken along the section lines 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevation view, particularly illustrating the release mechanism of the coupler;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view taken in the direction 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged View of the release mechanism and a portion of the coupler, taken in the direction 55 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are views showing the release mechanism of the coupler of FIG. 1 with the knuckle of a cooperating coupler, and illustrating the successive positions of the parts in the operation of the mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the coupler 10' comprise a housing 11 constituted as a hollow elongate body 12, a head 13, face 14, and pivots 15 and 16.

The coupler 10 is carried by a frame 17, a cross plate 18, and a pin 19. The cross plate 18 is supported from the frame 17 by rubber pads 20, 21, and 22. The coupler housing 11 is supported from the cross plate 18 by a pin 19 which extends vertically through top and bottom 3,289,856 Patented Dec. 6, 1966 flanges 23 and 24 and through the pivots 15 and 16. The frame 17 is secured to a transverse wall 25 of a rail car by means such as bolts 26 which extend through openings in the wall 25 and the back wall 27 and forward wall parts 28 and 29 of the frame 17.

The coupler 10 is held in an axial or neutral position by a centering device constituted by a fork 31 received between the pivots 15 and 16 and engaged with a centering part 31 carried by the plate 18. A spring 32 acts between a pin 33 and a plug 34 engaged with the yoke of the fork and maintains the coupler in a central position in the lateral direction of the car.

The coupler 10 is constructed with an uncoupling mechanism which includes a cam 35 carried on a pin 36, supported by two starrohions 37 and 38 formed as an integral part of the head 13. A release lever 40' is carried on the pin 36 and operates the cam 35, as hereinafter described.

The coupler 10 is adapted to cooperate with a complementary coupler such as a coupler 42 shown fragmentarily in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The coupler 42 includes a head 43 having a face 44 for engagement with the face 14 of the coupler 1t) and a knuckle 45 received in the opening 46 of the body 12. The cam 35 engages a cam face 47 on the adjacent portion of the knuckle 45 when the couplers 10 and 42 are in coupled relation and the disposition of the contacting surface portions of the cam 35 and the face 47 is such that the two couplers are held in locked engagement during such times as draft forces exist between the two couplers.

The uncoupling mechanism comprises the cam 35, the release lever 40, a spring 53 connected between the cam 35 and a pin 51 extending transversely of the release lever, a spring 52 connected between a pin 53 extending transversely between the lower side walls of the lever 40 and a pin 54 carried on the top wall of the housing body 12. A setting post 55 is carried on the pin 53 and is arranged to engage the knuckle 45 for holding the release lever 40 in a cocked position upwardly and away from the housing 11.

The cam 35 is constructed with a unitary cam body 57 with two longitudinally extending laterally spaced anms 58 and 59 received over the pin 36 for pivotal movement of the cam on the pin. An eye 6t] receives the spring 50.

The release lever 40 is constructed as a unitary hollow body 61 having a solid end part 62 received over the pin 36 between the arms 58 and 59 of the cam 35 for pivotal movement of the release lever on the pin. The body 61 is formed with spaced side walls 63 and 64 for enclosing the springs 50 and 52, and laterally extending skirts 65 and 66 covering the arms 58 and 59 and the body 57 of the cam 35. The setting post 55 is carried on a pin 53 which extends through the walls 63 and 64 and the outside wall of the skirt 66, A flange 67 at the top end of the body 61 of the release lever is used to move the lever away from the housing, by hand or by an appropriate linkage, to cock the mechanism.

The cam 35 has two stops 70- and 71 formed as radially extending parts of the side arms 58 and 59 of the cam. The stops 70 and 71 engage a cross part 72 of the housing 12 and limit the downward movement of the cam 35 when the coupler 42 is disengaged from the coupler 10.

The operation of the release mechanism is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, wherein the successive positions of the cam 35 and release lever 40 are shown during the uncoupling of the couplers 42 and 10 illustrated in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the coupler 42 has the knuckle 45 received in the knuckle opening 46 of the coupler 10, and the cam 35 is in locking engagement with the knuckle 45 at the locking face 47 of the knuckle. The disposition of the couplers is that of the tractive condition with the engine pulling, that is, the two couplers are in tension and the locking face 47 is pressed against the face of the cam 35.

From the position shown in FIG. 3, the couplers 42 and are uncoupled by moving the release lever 40 upward to the position shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 with the setting post 55 engaged with the knuckle 45. The release lever 40 is held in this posit-ion by the action of the post 55 against the force of the spring 52, and the spring 50 is elongated to place a tension upon the cam 35. This condition is maintained so long as the couplers 10 and 42 are in tension and the knuckle face 47 is compressively engaged with the face of the cam 35. However, as soon as the tractive force is terminated, or the couplers otherwise become slack, the compressive force between the knuckle 45 and the cam 35 is relieved and the spring 50 pulls the cam'upward about the pin 36 to the position shown in FIG. 7. Since the release lever 40 is maintained in the unlocking position against the spring 52 by the post 55, the coupler 10 and coupler 42 are free to separate. The coupler 10 may be returned to a coupling condition by disengaging the post 55 and lowering the lever to the initial position adjacent the housing.

It will be understood that the principal purpose and usefulness of the release device described herein is to enable the uncoupling of one or more cars from other cars of a train which is under the direction or control of a single operator. Thus, the cars are prepared for uncoupling by cocking the release levers of the couplers of the cars which are to be separated from the others, the cars are moved to the desired destination by maintaining the traction between the cars, and the cars are then separated by allowing the train to go slack or by backing the train from a rest position. In the latter case, it is assumed that the cars could not be uncoupled in the rest position by a single operator because of an existing tract-ive force between the cars.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description is not intended to restrict the scope of the invention and that various rearrangements of the parts and modifications of the design may be resorted to. The following claims are directed to the method and to the combinations of elements which embody the invention or inventions of this application.

I claim:

-1. In a coupling apparatus in which there is a first coupler constituted by a housing having a coupling head and means for receiving a knuckle of a cooperating second coupler in the head, a movable cam on the first coupler supporting the cam on the head of the first coupler for movement into a locking position in locking engagement with a cam face of the knuckle or an unlocking position away from the knuckle, that improvement in the first coupler which comprises a release lever separate from the cam, means supporting the release lever on the head for movement from a locking position adjacent the cam to an unlocking position away from the cam or from the unlocking position to the locking position, all independent of the movement of the cam, spring means connected between the cam and the release lever for moving the cam to the unlocking position in response to tension of the spring means when the release lever is in the unlocking position, and means for holding the release lever in the unlocking position to tension the spring means against the cam when the cam is engaged by the knuckle and all for moving the cam to the unlocking position when engagement of the knuckle with the cam is relieved by relative movement of the couplers.

2. Coupling apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which a second spring means is connected from the release lever to the housing for returning the cam and release lever to the coupling positions thereof when the second coupler is separated from the first coupler.

3. Coupling apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the named means on the first coupler supporting the cam and named means supporting the release lever comprises a transversely directed pin and stanchions on the head of the coupler supporting the cam and release lever for pivotal movement on the pin.

4. Coupling apparatus in accordance with claim 3, in which the means for holding the release lever in an unlocking position comprises a setting post for engagement with the knuckle of the second coupler to hold the release lever away from the housing until the second coupler is separated from the first coupler and thereafter permit the cam to return to the locking position.

5. Coupler apparatus comprising a coupler and coupler head, a cam adapted for engagement with a part of a cooperating second coupler, and means supporting the cam for rotational movement transversely of the longitudinal direction of the coupler comprising a pin directed transversely of the longitudinal direction of the coupler and means supporting the pin on the head of the coupler and, in combination therewith, a release lever pivoted on the pin for movement independent of the cam, spring means connected between the cam and release lever, and means for cocking the release lever to an unlocking posi- 7 tion away from the coupler head and cam to tension the References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT S 798,322 8/1905 Carter 213-143 1,609,444 12/1926 Tomlinson 213-176 2,162,390 6/1939 'Rydin 213-109 2,228,357 1/1941 Larsson 213-176 2,950,018 8/1960 Kayler 213-159 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

B. FAUST, D. HOFFMAN, Assistant Examiners. 

1. IN A COUPLING APPARATUS IN WHICH THERE IS A FIRST COUPLER CONSTITUTED BY A HOUSING HAVING A COUPLING HEAD AND MEANS FOR RECEIVING A KNUCKLE OF A COOPERATING SECOND COUPLER IN THE HEAD, A MOVABLE CAM ON THE FIRST COUPLER SUPPORTING THE CAM ON THE HEAD OF THE FIRST COUPLER FOR MOVEMENT INTO A LOCKING POSITION IN LOCK ENGAGEMENT WITH A CAM FACE OF THE KNUCKLE OR AN UNLOCKING POSITION AWAY FROM THE KNUCKLE, THAT IMPROVEMENT IN THE FIRST COUPLER WHICH COMPRISES A RELEASE LEVER SEPARATE FROM THE CAM, MEANS SUPPORTING THE RELEASE LEVER ON THE HEAD FOR MOVEMENT FROM A LOCKING POSITION ADJACENT THE CAM TO AN UNLOCKING POSITION AWAY FROM THE CAM OR FROM THE UNLOCKING POSITION TO THE LOCKING POSITION, ALL INDEPENDENT OF THE MOVEMENT OF THE CAM, SPRING MEANS CONNECTED BETWEEN THE CAM AND THE RELEASE LEVER FOR MOVING THE CAM TO THE UNLOCKING POSITION IN RESPONSE TO TENSION OF THE SPRING MEANS WHEN THE RELEASE LEVER IS IN THE UNLOCKING POSITION, AND MEANS FOR HOLDING THE RELEASE LEVER IN THE UNLOCKING POSITION TO TENSION THE SPRING MEANS AGAINST THE CAM WHEN THE CAM IS ENGAGED BY THE KNUCKLE AND ALL FOR MOVING THE CAM TO THE UNLOCKING POSITION WHEN ENGAGEMENT OF THE KNUCKLE WITH THE CAM IS RELIEVED BY RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF THE COUPLERS. 